Best Card for first credit card

Store cards are credit cards, so this is not your first card.

Using a debit card is not a good move, errors pull money from your account and you can not get it back right away. This can lead to overdrawing your account.

Amex Blue would be good (since you exceeding the cap), or a Fidelity card for cash back,

What hotel are you staying at?

There are a lot of hotel-branded credit cards that can give you free nights, complimentary upgrades etc.

Quote from donkeyc11 : However, I'm in the process of booking my honeymoon and the hotel says they do not accept debit cards for reservations and bookings. The total charge is going to be around $6,500 so I want to be able to get the best credit card that will give me the best reward on this type of purchase. I don't really see myself using it too much in the future but if the rewards are good I may consider keeping it. I read through the first sticky but I'm not really sure which one would be best for me. Any input is appreciated. Thanks

I just plugged your expected spending into the rewards calculator at http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/. It shows the Starwood Preferred Guest card as being best with rewards worth $724.59 on $6500 in spending at hotels (entered as $542 per month (for 12 months) since the calculator is based on monthly spend). If you can elaborate your expected spending better than that, it may change the answer.

Enjoy your honeymoon!

You should seriously reconsider the use of your debit card. There are reasons to use a credit card over a debit card other than for rewards. Credit Cards have much better fraud protection and lower liability for you in case of fraud. Most credit cards offer purchase protection (extended warranty). Some cards provide insurance for rental cars [creditcards.com].

10 places NOT to use your debit card [creditcards.com]
4 Places Your Credit Card Is A Better Choice Than Debit [thestreet.com]

You might choose to use a debit card when you need cash back or if you want to help the store avoid paying fees to the credit card companies.

Quote from dhc014 : You should seriously reconsider the use of your debit card. There are reasons to use a credit card over a debit card other than for rewards. Credit Cards have much better fraud protection and lower liability for you in case of fraud. Most credit cards offer purchase protection (extended warranty). Some cards provide insurance for rental cars [creditcards.com]. 10 places NOT to use your debit card [creditcards.com] 4 Places Your Credit Card Is A Better Choice Than Debit [thestreet.com] You might choose to use a debit card when you need cash back or if you want to help the store avoid paying fees to the credit card companies.

Thanks for the replies everyone - we are going to the Maldives at a private, non-chain resort so a hotel card doesnt seem to be the best. The top ones I've seen so far appear to be the AAdvantage Visa/Amex (50k miles bonus), the Chase Sapphire (2x back on restaurants, 40k bonus points) and the Amex Blue card so I may give them a go.

As far as credit card vs debit card (not to start a whole debate):

I've never been a victim of fraud - I know it's always a possibility, but I never keep enough money in there to make it earth shattering if something were to happen - plus I always thought that you are protected up to a certain amount ($5k?) through the Mastercard system, which is good as long as someone doesnt have my PIN

Extended warranties - how often do you even need them anyway? On something I really care about (large appliances for example) I can easily and cheaply get something through squaretrade that extends far beyond 2 years.

Car rentals - I have gone to several countries in Africa and several places in the Caribbean - every time I check with my car insurance and my policy insures me for rental cars, even overseas.

I'm not a credit card hater - I just have never seen the need really.

The AAdvantage Visa/Amex and Chase Sapphire are very good choices.

Might I also suggest the AMEX Business Gold Rewards Card.

I think that it has the best sign-up bonus at the moment and some of its benefits include:
-75k points after $10k spend in 4 months (offer expires 1/28/13)
-$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $175
-3x points on airfare
-2x points on advertising in select media, gas and shipping
-1x points on everything else

https://www262.americanexpress.co...5152-286-0