Help Finding a Reward or CB Credit Card That's Right For Me

[crudbucket36]

I have never had a credit card before but I have some large purchases coming up soon and wanted to get a reward or CB credit card before I make them. I have read about the Discover CB card and the Citi Thank You program.

Are those 2 the best ones out there right now or is there something better that I missed? Also, which one is better. I plan to use the card for mostly everything - rent, food, gas, etc. (and paying it off every month of course). My big purchase is a big screen TV.

Your help and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[n_luv]

I have been researching this a lot. Seems like AM blue cash is good if you spend A LOT because you have to use 6500 in order to start getting full cash back.
I went with Discover more. Also they have an ad with an extra $100 cash back when you spend $500 you go to this site www.apply.discovercard.com and ener invitation code DBSZ

Good luck to you and let me know if you find one that is better...

[bobjones121806]

I have never had a credit card before but I have some large purchases coming up soon and wanted to get a reward or CB credit card before I make them. I have read about the Discover CB card and the Citi Thank You program.

Are those 2 the best ones out there right now or is there something better that I missed? Also, which one is better. I plan to use the card for mostly everything - rent, food, gas, etc. (and paying it off every month of course). My big purchase is a big screen TV.

Your help and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Have you had any loans or mortgages before? If not, you may not have a credit history. If this is the case, you may actually need to look for a credit card for customers with limited or no credit history ( see some discussion in this SD thread (http://archive.slickdeals.net/showpost.php?p=10052288&postcount=3)).

If you do have credit history, then it is a different story and you can do your search among regular credit cards. According to this list http://cashbackprofit.com/credit/card/All/Cashback/sorted_by_cashback_value/cashback.php , Discover card seems to be indeed the best card for buying "everything" (=typical US family spending pattern).

However, in your case, you may need to go a bit different route by trying to maximize cashback for buying a big screen TV first. Try to look for some short-term promotional cashback offers at http://www.extradime.com/forums/cashback-miles-points-deals . If you can not find anything above 3%, you may consider building a Capital One credit card with either double or triple rewards for electronics via Capital One lab https://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/cardlab/#/choose-your-terms/?linkid=WWW_0608_CARD_TGUNS01_CLICL_C2_01_G_CLCYT . According to this post http://ibankdesign.com/board/t13832.html triple miles translates into 3% cashback if you are OK with redeeming miles for gift certificates.

When you are done with this step, calculate what maximal cashback profit you can get for a TV purchase. Then compare this value with the value of available credit card sign-up bonuses (see for example at http://sortcreditcards.com/credit/card/All/Sign_up_Bonus/sorted_by_bonus_value/bonus.php ). You may or may not find out that getting a "generic" cashback card with a sign-up bonus will result into a better profit then getting a credit card with a specialized or promo cashback... depending on the price of your TV.

[crudbucket36]

Have you had any loans or mortgages before? If not, you may not have a credit history. If this is the case, you may actually need to look for a credit card for customers with limited or no credit history ( see some discussion in this SD thread (http://archive.slickdeals.net/showpost.php?p=10052288&postcount=3)).

If you do have credit history, then it is a different story and you can do your search among regular credit cards. According to this list http://cashbackprofit.com/credit/card/All/Cashback/sorted_by_cashback_value/cashback.php , Discover card seems to be indeed the best card for buying "everything" (=typical US family spending pattern).

However, in your case, you may need to go a bit different route by trying to maximize cashback for buying a big screen TV first. Try to look for some short-term promotional cashback offers at http://www.extradime.com/forums/cashback-miles-points-deals . If you can not find anything above 3%, you may consider building a Capital One credit card with either double or triple rewards for electronics via Capital One lab https://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/cardlab/#/choose-your-terms/?linkid=WWW_0608_CARD_TGUNS01_CLICL_C2_01_G_CLCYT . According to this post http://ibankdesign.com/board/t13832.html triple miles translates into 3% cashback if you are OK with redeeming miles for gift certificates.

When you are done with this step, calculate what maximal cashback profit you can get for a TV purchase. Then compare this value with the value of available credit card sign-up bonuses (see for example at http://sortcreditcards.com/credit/card/All/Sign_up_Bonus/sorted_by_bonus_value/bonus.php ). You may or may not find out that getting a "generic" cashback card with a sign-up bonus will result into a better profit then getting a credit card with a specialized or promo cashback... depending on the price of your TV.

I did have a loan about 6 years ago for a car. Thank you for all the information. I will look into this and let you know if I need any additional assistance. Thanks!

[rrc06]

Chase Freedom USED to be a great card (3% CB in top 3-5 categories). Now its 1% CB with 3% CB in special categories that change every so often.

It's still a decent CB card IMO. I use it when I cant use my AMEX Blue Cash card. Amex Blue Cash is great if you spend at least $1000+ per month (You need to get $6500 to get to the good cashback tier).

The best single-rate card I've heard of if either the Fidelity or Charles Schwab Visa card that requires a brokerage account and gives you 2% CB on everything.

[joelmeu]

Also, which one is better. I plan to use the card for mostly everything - rent, food, gas, etc. (and paying it off every month of course). My big purchase is a big screen TV.
The best one for you will depend on your expected spending profile -- that is, how much you spend in the various rewards categories like gas, groceries, restaurants, etc.
You can try this credit card rewards calculator to see which of several cards will pay you the most in rewards for your entered monthly spending profile:

http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/

It'll also find the best combinations of rewards cards (e.g. the best 2-card combination) for your expected spending, if you're interested in that.