What credit card is everyone using now?

[NinjaKnight]

I burned through all the great ones from Chase already for the sign up bonsues, cleared over $5K in free travel. Just signed up for the AmEx Platinum since it has some awesome perks and decent sign up bonus. Plus the thing feels like a brick in your hand, I'm not sure how it's even allowed past TSA.

 

[UCFRogerz]

I burned through all the great ones from Chase already for the sign up bonsues, cleared over $5K in free travel. Just signed up for the AmEx Platinum since it has some awesome perks and decent sign up bonus. Plus the thing feels like a brick in your hand, I'm not sure how it's even allowed past TSA.

As stupid as it may sound, my most recent card is a Wells Fargo cash back card. Wells Fargo cards come with phone insurance as long as you pay your phone bill with the card, up to $600 twice a year. It might be for up to 4 phone as well, I don't remember. It works and have used it twice in one year. Like a $25 deductible and they have just sent the amount we paid for the phone back to me.

 

[NinjaKnight]

As stupid as it may sound, my most recent card is a Wells Fargo cash back card. Wells Fargo cards come with phone insurance as long as you pay your phone bill with the card, up to $600 twice a year. It might be for up to 4 phone as well, I don't remember. It works and have used it twice in one year. Like a $25 deductible and they have just sent the amount we paid for the phone back to me.

Yeah that's actually a neat option that most people don't think about. I already have it on my Chase Ink Business though, so I'm covered there. Thanks tho!

 

[Ace of Knights]

I’m using a PNC cash back card. 4% back on gas, 3% on all restaurants, 2% for groceries, and 1% for everything else. There is an $8,000 spending cap a year for me for the 2-4% rewards back, after I hit it I just get 1% until the year is up.

I’ve only had it for a few months and have racked up $60 cash back. As long as I pay it off every month it’s just a debit card with perks.

 

[NinjaKnight]

I’m using a PNC cash back card. 4% back on gas, 3% on all restaurants, 2% for groceries, and 1% for everything else. There is an $8,000 spending cap a year for me for the 2-4% rewards back, after I hit it I just get 1% until the year is up.

I’ve only had it for a few months and have racked up $60 cash back. As long as I pay it off every month it’s just a debit card with perks.

4% cash back on gas is tempting. I had the Sallie Mae Barclays and it was glorious: 5% on gas, groceries and Amazon until they cut it off.

 

[chemmie]

Sitting on my Chase Sapphire Reserve for now... I still have about a year until I can go through the Citi AAdvantage Cards again. Sitting on over 300K Chase points and 200K AAdvantage miles. Not using miles for my next trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. It is cheap enough to pay cash, and with the Chase Sapphire Reserve $300 yearly credit, it will be closer to free.

Saving miles for a good 3-week trip to Sichuan, China eventually. Taking KoreaAir First Class in/out of Xi'an to move around Xi'an, Chengdu, and Leshan.

 

[NinjaKnight]

Sitting on my Chase Sapphire Reserve for now... I still have about a year until I can go through the Citi AAdvantage Cards again. Sitting on over 300K Chase points and 200K AAdvantage miles. Not using miles for my next trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. It is cheap enough to pay cash, and with the Chase Sapphire Reserve $300 yearly credit, it will be closer to free.

Saving miles for a good 3-week trip to Sichuan, China eventually. Taking KoreaAir First Class in/out of Xi'an to move around Xi'an, Chengdu, and Leshan.

I actually already cancelled my CSR, but not before collecting two of the $300 annual credits (back when it was per calendar year) while paying only one of the $450 annual fees. So they gave me the 100K points, and $150 in free travel credit. But I do agree that one is an extraordinary rewards card when you consider everything. China trip sounds pretty awesome though.

 

[chemmie]

I actually already cancelled my CSR, but not before collecting two of the $300 annual credits (back when it was per calendar year) while paying only one of the $450 annual fees. So they gave me the 100K points, and $150 in free travel credit. But I do agree that one is an extraordinary rewards card when you consider everything. China trip sounds pretty awesome though.

I'm doing that with my wife's CSR, but kept my own. The 3x on travel and restaurants is huge for me, plus the Chase shopping portal. Free Global Entry for 5 years is an awesome perk, too. I even used the rental car insurance and it was awesome, saved me roughly a grand on a crashed rental. I'm a big fan of the Sapphire products.

 

[NinjaKnight]

I'm doing that with my wife's CSR, but kept my own. The 3x on travel and restaurants is huge for me, plus the Chase shopping portal. Free Global Entry for 5 years is an awesome perk, too. I even used the rental car insurance and it was awesome, saved me roughly a grand on a crashed rental. I'm a big fan of the Sapphire products.

I am a fan as well, the triple points on dining is something I will def miss. I already used the global entry perk and my Amex has the car insurance. I'm keeping my chase business for access to the UR and portal, it has a little less of an annual fee and the really nice phone insurance Frogerz mentioned earlier.

 

[APfromKC]

The one that goes through...

 

[hemightbejeremy]

CSR for travel and dining. SPG for everything else.

 

[UCF11and1]

Citi AA, Hilton and IHG card. Just did 2 weeks in Spain for almost free (~ $100 in fees). Also have the Southwest companion pass

What are you guys doing to meet the spending for the sign-up bonuses? My bluebird has survived until now so I can do the gift card game but would like to hear what is out there.

 

[bqknight]

Citi AA, Hilton and IHG card. Just did 2 weeks in Spain for almost free (~ $100 in fees). Also have the Southwest companion pass

What are you guys doing to meet the spending for the sign-up bonuses? My bluebird has survived until now so I can do the gift card game but would like to hear what is out there.

I typically pay rent. There is a small fee but the Sign-Up bonuses way outweigh the fee my place charges.

The gift card game is becoming harder to do and riskier. Same with MO. Credit Card companies know they're being played.

 

[KingDavid]

I have only one card that I use on a regular basis, a Chase Freedom (a 1%/5% card) that I've been earning points on that I convert to cash only. Since 2015 or so, I've converted somewhere around $3500-3800 in cash. I use the card to pay all of my bills. If I could put my mortgage on there, I would. I never carry a balance so I pay no interest.

I sometimes wonder if I should get a airline miles card, but when I think about it, the amount of cash back has paid for several vacations.

 

[NinjaKnight]

Citi AA, Hilton and IHG card. Just did 2 weeks in Spain for almost free (~ $100 in fees). Also have the Southwest companion pass

What are you guys doing to meet the spending for the sign-up bonuses? My bluebird has survived until now so I can do the gift card game but would like to hear what is out there.

I travel a metric shit ton for work, so I sign up for a new card that has a large sign up bonus with $5,000 spent or whatever, and then just put my hotel on that. Works great when I get a nice hotel to stay in...but sometimes I'm not staying in hotels.

 

[chemmie]

I don't rely on manufactured spending to meet my bonuses. I take my time, one card at a time, and just hit it with regular spending before moving on to the next one. I've never had to rely on manufactured spending and have always had a boatload of points.

The game is getting much harder. I think if you just keep moving slowly you should be good in the long run and it will continue to be sustainable. Most cards are still churnable after a 2 year wait, and I just hit Barclays AA again and I already held 2 of them. AA has been my goldmine for about 6 years now and even with all the changes it still goes strong.

 

[NinjaKnight]

Just got the Amex Hilton Aspire. This thing is awesome, free automatic Hilton Diamond status, $250 airline incidental credit (which works for gift cards...) plus multiple Hilton credits and free nights. 100K HHonors sign up bonus and you earn 14x times points at Hilton resorts per dollar, combined with Diamond status getting you 20 points that is 34 points per dollar...insane.

 

[chemmie]

I just hit my bonus on the SPG Business Card before the card got killed. Transferred all of my SPG points to AA for over 50K AA miles.

I'm currently sitting on about 180K AA miles for myself, 170k AA miles for my wife... and about 310k Chase Sapphire points total. I'm booking flights into Chengdu, China and out of Xi'an, China in a couple weeks for a long vacation.

My next card will be the Barclay's AA Business card, then I will do the Citi AA cards (3 of them)... So I will continue killing AA miles for the next year or two.

 

[1ofTheseKnights]

^^^ @chemmie loves capitalism

I'm still rocking Chase Freedom/Discover 5% CB rotating categories, BankAmericard 3%/2%/1% (effectively 4.5/3/1.5 mainly use at Sam's), Elan's Fidelity CC 2% for misc. Some other old CCs sockdrawered.

Contemplating the Capital One Savor for 3% on eating out & US Bank's pick your own 5% CB product.

Still sitting on ~66K AA miles from an old app-o-rama. Will hit the churn game again someday.

 

[btbones]

Bass Pro Shops VISA . I honestly don’t use credit cards much though . More of a cash guy . Laugh all you want but that’s me

 

[humanjerk]

I'm new to the game. My company is switching from corporate cards to personal cards. I spend about $1,500 a month mostly on rental cars, gas, and dining. I'll also mix in about 6 American flights a year and 10 or so hotel stays.

Any suggestions? I'm also fine with adding in my personal charges to meet initial minimum purchasing requirements.

 

[vroomba]

Citi Doublecash is a solid all-around card with 2% on everything, then AMEX blue cash preferred which is 6% at supermarkets, 3% at gas stations/dept stores and 1% everything else. Between the two you can get decent cash back if you optimize.

 

[EweSeaEff]

I only use my AMEX Platinum. I just spent two weeks in Europe and used AMEX points to purchase Hotels.com GCs. Total out of pocket for hotels: $0. I also used AA miles for the four of us. I have to say, I fly AA almost exclusively and their international first/business class absolutely sucks. I flew Delta first last year for an international trip and flew Delta first a few years ago for the UCF trip to Ireland - Delta is the shizz when it comes to first class service. I always flew Northwest up until the merger, then switched to US Air. I might be making an airline switch to go back to Delta (just not looking forward to always connecting through ATL).

 

[UCFRogerz]

I only use my AMEX Platinum. I just spent two weeks in Europe and used AMEX points to purchase Hotels.com GCs. Total out of pocket for hotels: $0. I also used AA miles for the four of us. I have to say, I fly AA almost exclusively and their international first/business class absolutely sucks. I flew Delta first last year for an international trip and flew Delta first a few years ago for the UCF trip to Ireland - Delta is the shizz when it comes to first class service. I always flew Northwest up until the merger, then switched to US Air. I might be making an airline switch to go back to Delta (just not looking forward to always connecting through ATL).

Precisely why I fly AA. A lot more direct flights out of MCO and flights to the west coast are typically split in Dallas which is a nice halfway point to stretch your legs.

 

[1ofTheseKnights]

I'm new to the game. My company is switching from corporate cards to personal cards. I spend about $1,500 a month mostly on rental cars, gas, and dining. I'll also mix in about 6 American flights a year and 10 or so hotel stays.

Any suggestions? I'm also fine with adding in my personal charges to meet initial minimum purchasing requirements.

Depends. What's the rest of your spending? What's currently in your wallet? What is your goal? Straight cash(back) homey? Travel? Don't care about hard inquiries i.e. don't need a mortgage anytime soon etc? There's certainly solid cards for those categories.

 

[1ofTheseKnights]

Bass Pro Shops VISA . I honestly don’t use credit cards much though . More of a cash guy . Laugh all you want but that’s me

Not laughing cos I definitely believe on average, cash = spending less, but I couldn't write checks to pay a cellphone or cable bill I can get 5% cashback on simply for using a CC.

 

[EweSeaEff]

Precisely why I fly AA. A lot more direct flights out of MCO and flights to the west coast are typically split in Dallas which is a nice halfway point to stretch your legs.

Exactly. That's the only reason I'm hesitant to switch. The whole reason I chose US Air was because I liked being able to be on the "chairman's flight" out west and not stopping until PHX. Now, DFW is great because it's halfway (even if it's one of the shittiest airports).

 

[NinjaKnight]

I'm new to the game. My company is switching from corporate cards to personal cards. I spend about $1,500 a month mostly on rental cars, gas, and dining. I'll also mix in about 6 American flights a year and 10 or so hotel stays.

Any suggestions? I'm also fine with adding in my personal charges to meet initial minimum purchasing requirements.

Chase Sapphire Reserve gets you 3% Ultimate Rewards back on restaurants and travel, so that would be a good fit for you. Also AmEx Platinum is pretty badass if you Fly American a lot, 5x points when booked through the airline or Amex and you get some crazy benefits, $200 American incidentals, free Uber rides every month, car rental Gold class, free access to just about every airport lounge including Centurion lounges.

If you are using cash you are literally throwing away money. Hell I just got $1500 in Home Depot gift cards yesterday simply for signing up and meeting the min spend bonus for my Amex Platinum. I've taken multiple trips using points, can't remember the last time I've paid for a hotel.

 

[UCFRogerz]

Chase Sapphire Reserve gets you 3% Ultimate Rewards back on restaurants and travel, so that would be a good fit for you. Also AmEx Platinum is pretty badass if you Fly American a lot, 5x points when booked through the airline or Amex and you get some crazy benefits, $200 American incidentals, free Uber rides every month, car rental Gold class, free access to just about every airport lounge including Centurion lounges.

If you are using cash you are literally throwing away money. Hell I just got $1500 in Home Depot gift cards yesterday simply for signing up and meeting the min spend bonus for my Amex Platinum. I've taken multiple trips using points, can't remember the last time I've paid for a hotel.

Man, $550 a year is huge but I guess I'm spending over $200/year on cards already, one I could get rid of I guess.

 

[cnsaguy]

Bass Pro Shops VISA . I honestly don’t use credit cards much though . More of a cash guy . Laugh all you want but that’s me

I'm with you. I'd rather spend my free time not juggling a bunch of ccards. Good luck to those that do, just not for me. Like the old adage goes, "if you can't afford to buy it, don't".

 

[NinjaKnight]

Man, $550 a year is huge but I guess I'm spending over $200/year on cards already, one I could get rid of I guess.

Yeah the annual fee looks big but when you add up all the perks it can cover it. Like for the chase it has a straight $300 bucks for any travel stuff


The amex has $200 for airline incidentals and like $20 a month for Uber, plus a crazy amount of perks.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thepointsguy.com/guide/maximizing-amex-platinum/amp/

 

[chemmie]

Chase Sapphire Reserve is $450 a year. $300 of that is reimbursed if you pay for any travel. So, the fee is basically $150. You can get 5 years of Global Entry for free, so that is another $100.
If you use both of those perks, the fee for the first year is roughly $50, and I think the bonus is 50K Chase Rewards points right now. That is roughly $650 in travel right there in bonus.

Not to mention other perks like travel insurance and car rental insurance. I wrecked a rental car and Chase paid me back the $1K I had to pay the car company, with really no questions asked. It was easy.

 

[Crazyhole]

I've only ever met one hooker that takes credit cards so dont have much use for them.

 

[humanjerk]

Depends. What's the rest of your spending? What's currently in your wallet? What is your goal? Straight cash(back) homey? Travel? Don't care about hard inquiries i.e. don't need a mortgage anytime soon etc? There's certainly solid cards for those categories.

I would probably spend another 2k a month on personal stuff. I just use the Skymiles AMEX right now and don't fly Delta as much as I used to. Probably looking for travel benefits more than cash. I'm not looking to get into the churning game, just looking for a one and done. I like the perks of the AMEX Platinum so maybe I'll give that one a try for the first year and switch to sapphire reserve if I'm not seeing the value.

 

[NinjaKnight]

I would probably spend another 2k a month on personal stuff. I just use the Skymiles AMEX right now and don't fly Delta as much as I used to. Probably looking for travel benefits more than cash. I'm not looking to get into the churning game, just looking for a one and done. I like the perks of the AMEX Platinum so maybe I'll give that one a try for the first year and switch to sapphire reserve if I'm not seeing the value.

AmEx Platnium prob has the best travel perks, you get access to just about every airport lounge for free. If you apply through this referal link you can get the 60K points instead of 50K.

http://refer.amex.us/LEWISP8jHz

 

[HuffyCane]

If you play the travel perk games, you really aren't playing unless you have Plat Amex and Sapphire. Both are overrated compared to the hype they get from the self promoting bloggers out there, but they do have nice perks, like the international lounge access mentioned above. Its nice when you want a beer and dont want to sit in the common areas while you are waiting for your plane.

 

[siroz99]

Maestro.

 

[NinjaKnight]

If you play the travel perk games, you really aren't playing unless you have Plat Amex and Sapphire. Both are overrated compared to the hype they get from the self promoting bloggers out there, but they do have nice perks, like the international lounge access mentioned above. Its nice when you want a beer and dont want to sit in the common areas while you are waiting for your plane.

Got both...and then some. I'm up to 2x Amex Platinums (Original & Charles Schwab) , love that card. The lounge access is amazing, so much nicer sitting in a Centurion (or Delta when flying Delta) with free food and booze while the plebs try to scrounge a free power outlet outside.

Been on a real Hilton Amex kick recently, the Aspire is such an insane deal I can't believe its still around.

 

[chemmie]

I'm still just using my Chase Sapphire Reserve, and my wife Chase Freedom (no fee, but points can transfer to me.) The $300 yearly credit just hit and I used to to buy flights from Sri Lanka to the Maldives, and used my Chase UR points for four nights in the Maldives. This is after 10 nights on Sri Lanka driving around in a tuk tuk.

Used AAdvantage Miles for Qatar Business Class into Colombo, Sri Lanka and out of Male, Maldives for $160 round trip.

 

[NinjaKnight]

I'm still just using my Chase Sapphire Reserve, and my wife Chase Freedom (no fee, but points can transfer to me.) The $300 yearly credit just hit and I used to to buy flights from Sri Lanka to the Maldives, and used my Chase UR points for four nights in the Maldives. This is after 10 nights on Sri Lanka driving around in a tuk tuk.

Used AAdvantage Miles for Qatar Business Class into Colombo, Sri Lanka and out of Male, Maldives for $160 round trip.

Yeah, I'm doing the exact same thing with the CSR and CF, love the 5% back, this quarter is gas and drug stores which is great for buying gift cards for everywhere else we shop.