What Credit Cards do you reccomend?

[Hausse 0]

Hi Guys

I'm thinking of getting rid of some of my old and high interest CC, and am looking for new ones, so what banks and kind of cards can you recommend and have you had good experiences with?

My Credit score is good somewhere in the lower 700's

Thanks!

[JohnMitchell 14]

Depends on how you use them. We pay off in full every month but play the frequent flyer mile game, so we pay for Alaska Airlines cards.

If you want to economize, I'd go for a no fee Discover card that pays cash back. Don't charge more than you can pay off each month, then the interest doesn't matter. If you need to borrow money, do it on a low interest line of credit. Credit cards usually suck to carry debt on.

[ryoder 1,380]

I pay off cards every month, so I don't care about interest rates.
What matters to me:

1. Cashback.

2. "Temporary" card feature for online shopping. i.e. you can use their website to generate a temporary card number and specify a credit limit on it, and an expiration date. Then you can do online shopping w/o giving out your real CC info. If the temp card info gets compromised, no big deal, since you set the credit limit just a few dollars higher than the last purchase, and use a different one with each vendor.

I currently have AmEx (cashback), Discover (cashback & temporary card), and Bank of America, (cashback & temporary card).

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[k-dubjumps 0]

I work in the credit card business. Be careful about closing a bunch of accounts all at once. This will negatively impact your credit score. Close one every one to two months. My advice is to shop around. What do you want out of your card? Do you want some perks (points, miles, etc.)? If so you may have to pay an annual fee (anywhere from $39-$200) depending on the type of product it is, or do you just want a low rate? It sounds like you are a revolver (carry a balance) vs a transactor (pay off balance every month. If that's the case you may want to look for a card with low rates, but it likely won't have additional perks.

Another thing to consider is contacting your current issuers and asking them to lower your rate. If you are in good standing and have been a loyal customer, then they will likely drop your rate some. They will have multiple retention offers in place to try to retain your business (I used to manage this program for my company). Worst case the answer is now and you start looking for a replacement.

When you do open a new card, don't expect the line to be as high as what you have now. The credit card business has been taking really big hits and they have tightened their strategies as far as credit lines and balance transfers. If you plan to transfer your balance, make sure this is even an option, many issuers are currently not offering balance transfers due to the high risk involved (charge-offs and bankruptcies).

Adrenaline is my crack

DPH #3
D.S. #16 FAG #12 Muff Brother #4406

[skymama 35]

I've been happy with HSBC. I have a no-fee rewards card, so I put all my purchases on it to get airmiles and pay it off every month. They're pretty good about security too; I put a large purchase on it when I was in a different city and they called me within 30 minutes to check and make sure it was for real.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[jimmytavino 16]

American Express

since they Require that you pay the ENTIRE bill
in full each month...

remember what SO many individuals and businesses FAIL to grasp......

a credit card is NOT
a free ticket to BUY ANYthing we want..
It is simply a convenience tool, that allows us to enter into an OBLIGATION, to make a payment for an item or service,,, the benefits of which we have ALREADY enjoyed....by the time the bill arrives..

a good rule for C. Cards, is to resist using them for "consumable items"....
especially crap like fast foods, impulse purchases and junk that we may "want" but really don't "NEED"

now skydives are another story altogether!!!

ok to use 'em for that , BUT you MUST pay the bill in FULL,, otherwise those seemingly reasonable priced jumps wind up costing 50 % to 100% MORE, by the time they ARE paid for...
CASH is a good way to go...but of course i am Old School,, And i work hard.. to be sure that there is always cash in my pockets..
this way ,,,, when i DO make a purchase it is with REAL money, and watching those bills fly away out of my hands, adds a certain REALITY to any purchase,, and definately makes me think twice or three times, about buying the item(s)...
jimmytavino

[ryoder 1,380]

Quote

American Express

since they Require that you pay the ENTIRE bill
in full each month...

Your info is outdated.
AmEx offers SIXTEEN different cards:

http://www201.americanexpress.com/getthecard/home

Click on "View all cards".

Mine has cashback, revolving credit, and no annual fee,

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[billeisele 122]

CitiBank Shell Mastercard

- no annual fee
- 5% cash discount on Shell gas
- 1% cash discount on all other purchases
- interest rate is irrelevant, pay it each month

- use credit cards for convenience not for a "loan"
- cash savings with this card far exceed any benefit possible from airline miles programs

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[Andy0689 0]

Do you shop at REI? US Bank has an REI card that boosts your annual dividend. No annual fee, full REI dividend on all REI purchases (except sale items) and 1% towards dividend for all non-REI purchases. Interest rate sucks but we pay it off every month. It's pretty sweet to get a $300+ dividend every spring.

Andy
I'll believe it when I see it on YouTube!

[simplyputsi 0]

all I can say is stay away from any card that has CHASE bank associated with it. Far far away.

Skymama's #2 stalker -

[Hausse 0]

Quote

all I can say is stay away from any card that has CHASE bank associated with it. Far far away.

Thanks, this is the info I'm looking for!

Well here my situation:

I generally pay my cards back in full every month, but due to the fact that I get payed irregularly from my business, sometimes I have to carry over a balance so I would still like a fairly low interest rate.

Not too much into cash back as I'm generally too lazy to worry about cashing it in.

Miles would be nice and perks like free rental insurance etc. wouldn't hurt either if the annual fees are reasonable.

Which Cards specifically can you recommend? So which bank and which of their cards do you use and do you like them?

[simplyputsi 0]

I right now only have two cards that i'm using. One is with Capital One and the other with Discover. I don't much care for Discover for some reason. I get reward points with Capital One but to tell you the truth the dollar value on them is ridic. I think I've accumulated close to 20,000 points and it might get me about $200 in merchandise. So that is 1% back. Lame. But better than nothing.

I've never had a problem with Capital One. They have some option these days to customize your card. I've not taken advantage of it. But if I understand correctly, you can get a lower interest rate in return for say less reward points given. Or you can get more reward points but have a higher interest rate. At least I think that is the jest of some of it.

Skymama's #2 stalker -

[futuredivot 0]

I prefer other people's.

You are only as strong as the prey you devour

[shropshire 0]

A good strong one, so that it doesn't break when scrapping ice off the car...

I also don't care (too much) about % rates, as I only buy what I can afford and pay it off every month.... and they pretty much all scum when it comes to their % rates.

AND - anyone that does NOT expect you to pay any kind of fees - F**king criminals.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[freefal 0]

For everyone who pays off their balance each month, (I'm in that catagory to) one thing to look out for is when the bill comes. The credit card companies are looking for every oportunity to get more income from their current customers, so even if you've been loyal for years and are used to getting your bill from HappyCreditCard Co. on the 26th of each month, it could start showing up on the 5th for some strange reason and then you could end up with a late fee. It's not a big deal if you notice the paper copy in the mail, but if you do everything on line it can get missed. And the late fees can of course change at the card companies discretion so it could be a lot more than you expected.

"Ignorance is bliss" and "Patience is a virtue"... So if you're stupid and don't mind waiting around for a while, I guess you can have a pretty good life!

[councilman24 36]

My wife and I have a reasonable minimum payment on each card automaticly from the bank so that we will avoid late fees (but not interest) if we miss a deadline. Otherwise we pay it off each month.

But, here's my dirty little confession about not looking at my bill.

In 2002, while traveling in Europe, I took a cash advance because it was easier in the situation than an ATM or credit. I don't even remember the circumstances. It must have been a purchase because it was only $70 or so.

BUT SINCE then I've been pay interest on it, EVEN THOUGH I paid the balance each month. The deal is each payment was used to pay off the LOWEST interest rate balance, the charge account not the cash advance. Since I use the card each month the balance was more than the full payment for the previous months charges. The $70 bucks in the balance due from the cash advance WASN'T applied to the cash advance but to the new, not yet due credit balance. SO unless the card had a zero balance, I didn't use it, or I estimated or looked up TOTAL balance and paid that or more, I would NEVER pay off the cash advance.

I freely admit I never looked at it that close. I did from time to time see the 50 cents or what ever that was the interest but I figured it was some other charge. Over the years I think I figured out it cost me 60 or 70 bucks.

So, I had to use another card for two months in order to clear the cash advance and make sure I had it gone.

And people wonder why we don't like banks.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[shropshire 0]

I've very recently come across Pre-Paid cards in international currencies (Euro & Dollar ones so far) that seem to be good for travellers. They're clearly not credit or debit cards but you top them up (like phones) and can access that money when abroad - and often have free or cheap ATM usage - they seem like a really good idea to me.

Has anyone here used them?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Snowwhite 0]

NOT CHASE!! NOT CHASE!! NOT CHASE!!!!

skydiveTaylorville.org
[email protected]

[Hausse 0]

Looks like I might give Amex a try. They have some nice cards. The blue cards have some great terms.

[davjohns 1]

I avoid giving advice, but you asked....

I don't use credit cards. Most financial planners / advisors say that you should only borrow money for investment purposes (starting a business, home, education, etc.) If you use credit cards as a convenience, you should pay them off at the end of every month. Therefore, the only contract term of importance is the grace period. For this reason, I use a debit card that can be used as a credit card. My bank actually returns part of the fee they receive from the transaction at the end of every quarter. So, I only spend what I can afford to spend, and I make money on the deal.

My .02.

I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet..

But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course.

[Hausse 0]

About half of all my credit card expenses go to google adwords and they make me quite a bit of money so I suppose I at least partly fall into the investor category!