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The BCE used to be one of my most often used cards and it is now my least-used. I would not recommend the card to anyone after Amex slashed all of the purchase protection and travel benefits and Amex Offers and their customer support have gone down the toilet. For the recent issue with Amex Offers not crediting $50+ supermarket purchases, I had to chat with them 4 times to get all of the credits issued. And on multiple occasions the rep was clueless and/or dragging the session out by taking 10+ minutes between replies. Now that Amex Offers have gotten worse (a lot of 1-2% cashback offers) there's little reason to keep it around.
For groceries you can do better with the Citi Custom Cash (5% vs. 3%), and for online shopping the BofA Customized Cash Rewards is also 3% with a 10% bonus if you have a BofA bank account.
at one point, i had the opinion that every sders should have at least one amex card if only for the amex offers. back in the day, the more cards you had, the more you could save and the amex offers were some of the best in the business. i would spend the day swiping amex cards all over town. even still today, amex offers do not exclude gift cards (for teh most part) so i haven't yet given up on amex but i can't really recommend these cards like i used to. there are just too many other viable options. unless you are the super big spender or the world traveler and you use points and perks like there's no tomorrow, never pay those enormous annual fees.
ive managed to get all my amex offer supermarket purchases paid so far but that's probably because i've only used the one grocery location. otherwise, i've never had an amex offer that didn't pay and i've never had a clawback so kudos to amex. couple times i've had to call because sams tried to pull a fast one. unfortunately the good amex offers are long gone. but i give them props for making good on and paying on their recent mistake; people who got $5k off $5k type of offers, etc.
eta: snowcrash is right, there was a time when amex was king on sd.
Yes, but you can have more than one card (and can have a biz card with some overlap and additional category options too).
For example I have one getting 5.25% on online, and another getting 5.25% on gas in quarters without 5x from Chase Freedom.... (there's not really a 3rd category that'd be worthwhile to me or I'd have a 3rd one)
Works on nearly everything (rare exceptions like vehicles, living things, etc)
How many cards can you have? One personal and one business? What are the requirements for business? How do you get 5.25%? What's 5x from Chase Freedom?
At some point the hassle of juggling cards and remembering which cards to use for what and which to pay off each month becomes not worth the hassle. I feel like I am doing more work than the rewards are paying me for.
This is why for me nothing has ever beat Capital One Spark. 2% cash back unlimited, and I don't have to fool with keeping track of anything.
I switched from preferred to regular. Do the math on that grocery deal. You pay $100 fee to get $360 max rewards. Or $0 fee for $180. Difference is only $80 after fee. But making 3% online vs 1% you could come out ahead. I will based on my spending.
Yeah, I max out the grocery category every year. Kroger 4x Fuel points and the AMEX bonus make it worth it -- even with the purchase fee on prepaid cards. But your point is valid, you have to consider the annual fee when determining your approach.
is this one of the first general 3% shots fired? i remember when 2% was the target and fidelity led the way.
still not as good as my credit card which is 3% on everything, everywhere, unlimited. i spend 80% of my purchases online so this deal would be ok if i didn't have u.s. alliance
Isn't that only a temporary promotion? I'm pretty sure I remember reading a statement from USAAlliance that they would like to extend 3% through 2022 but that it's not guaranteed
SERIOUSLY??? My preferred Amex Blue I pay over $100 per year just to have earns 1% in online and this one triple that?? I'm definitely going to cancel my Preferred Blue. This is ridiculous and a spit on the face to customers like me who have paid annual fees for over 10 years...
The preferred gets 6% back on grocery stores and 6% back on streaming services. Once you spend past the breakeven point on groceries it's a better card coupled with the streaming. If you want to get technical now that multiple Citi Custom Cash cards are possible through a product change you could get 5% back on groceries there on one of them and use the other for whatever.
Noooooooooooo don't cancel! you can downgrade and product change to blue cash everyday with no annual fee, pls don't jump to conclusions just take a breather… and call the number on the back of your card, or in the app or search online and ask them to downgrade your card, smh don't lose the history and relationships by canceling
That's what I did. Just called and they switched the product. My card never stopped working.
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from airban
:
This is why for me nothing has ever beat Capital One Spark. 2% cash back unlimited, and I don't have to fool with keeping track of anything.
I don't mind 2-3 cards where I always use the same card for the same kinds of purchases. But when I read some people are juggling 5-10+ cards, including some with multiple rotating categories, that just seems like a part time job to me.
right now i only have 15 open credit card accounts; that's probably low for sders
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from coreyphanor
:
Absolutely, I have 16 credit cards and Im a credit card enthusiasts, who uses the point to travel the world. Amex has two type of cards Charge Cards-mean you have to pay the card in full by the end of month & no roll over like regular cards. Amex Charge cards GENERALLY has a annual fee examples: Plat/Gold/Green cards
& Regular credit cards like the one above Everyday Card(no Fee) & Preferred(95 annual fee)
This card tho is a perfect way to build history and you can carry a balance to the next month but- I recommend paying it off in full or keep a low utilization
Note when when you open your first Amex card it results in a hard pull on your credit : but any cards your look to open further will be a soft pull no effect to your credit.
So this card is a 10/10 first Amex card to have & to build that relationship with Amex
P.S. I recommend doing a pre-approval before applying &
Open Credit Karma - it's a good ball park range indicator
Holy sh!t, I feel like an amature. I just remember reading YEARs back when I was like 18 or 19 (almost 2 decades ago) something like 'having about 4 active credit cards results in the best way to keep a good credit score' and I never really got past that concept.
Man only $6000 for groceries? That's top 6 months of groceries for a family of 4 with today's prices. Still probably one of the highest cb % without restrictions except the 6k limit. Now to decide whether to apply and take a credit hit or not. Wish I had applied for this one instead of that useless everyday cash card when Better Mortgage was running those $2k back refinance promos.
I love my Blue Cash Preferred for 6x Grocery and Streaming (apple services count too!). The ~$95 annual fee is easily handled in groceries alone. And if you buy gift cards at the grocery store for your other stores without bonus categories (Home depot in my case), then you get 6% for that too!
You get 6% cash back at grocery stores also just by purchasing GCs with preferred?
Isn't that only a temporary promotion? I'm pretty sure I remember reading a statement from USAAlliance that they would like to extend 3% through 2022 but that it's not guaranteed
it's not really a "promotion", it's the rate....for now. mine doesn't change in 2022. it changes every year. every year i use their card will be 3% or better; the year it is less, i don't use it. it's probably easier to say it gets renewed at the end of every year. just like your auto insurance but you don't ever think it doesn't get renewed, right?
usalliance is a credit card like all the other credit cards. it's not some scam to get you to use your card and then they pull the rug out from underneath you. but i get it, lots of skepticism and doubt and i guess it is hard to believe unless your first name is wells or chase or citi or america or capital. and maybe that's a good thing, maybe if a they had a million cardholder perhaps the rate would change. in september or october i should know if the rate goes to 4%, stays at 3% or lowers to 2% and then i can decide what to do from there. in the meantime, i get 3% everywhere everyday all day long on everything unlimited.
but there are no guarantees. you don't get a contract with any credit card. fed raised the rate today, if amex wants to send you an email and say never mind on this 6% what are you going to do? i know right now it feels like a guarantee, but it isn't. i believe the credit union has board rules that says they have to approve the rate every year so it's different than a scamming bank.
Holy sh!t, I feel like an amature. I just remember reading YEARs back when I was like 18 or 19 (almost 2 decades ago) something like 'having about 4 active credit cards results in the best way to keep a good credit score' and I never really got past that concept.
anyone old school should have 4 amex and 2 discover cards and 2 amazon cards minimum, just for the deals. if you are an apple fan, you have the apple card for all your computer, ipad, needs. then you go from there. maybe a bilt for rent and payboo for tax-free at bh, and then maybe a couple of others that you had no intention of using but you got them for the first year annual fee free with a $400 or $500 bonus for minimum spend. i charge everything i buy on my 3% us alliance and i have a dormant 2% fidelity that i can go back to for the day when us alliance decides to change their rate.
I have this card. I had the old version and ordered the new look card pictured in this thread.
Two of my Amex cards have the old art, and it can be a bit confusing when I log into the site and the card look different. I was also trying to figure out how to get the new look cards, but do you have to call?
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For groceries you can do better with the Citi Custom Cash (5% vs. 3%), and for online shopping the BofA Customized Cash Rewards is also 3% with a 10% bonus if you have a BofA bank account.
ive managed to get all my amex offer supermarket purchases paid so far but that's probably because i've only used the one grocery location. otherwise, i've never had an amex offer that didn't pay and i've never had a clawback so kudos to amex. couple times i've had to call because sams tried to pull a fast one. unfortunately the good amex offers are long gone. but i give them props for making good on and paying on their recent mistake; people who got $5k off $5k type of offers, etc.
eta: snowcrash is right, there was a time when amex was king on sd.
For example I have one getting 5.25% on online, and another getting 5.25% on gas in quarters without 5x from Chase Freedom.... (there's not really a 3rd category that'd be worthwhile to me or I'd have a 3rd one)
Works on nearly everything (rare exceptions like vehicles, living things, etc)
How many cards can you have? One personal and one business? What are the requirements for business? How do you get 5.25%? What's 5x from Chase Freedom?
still not as good as my credit card which is 3% on everything, everywhere, unlimited. i spend 80% of my purchases online so this deal would be ok if i didn't have u.s. alliance
https://go.usalliance.o
Isn't that only a temporary promotion? I'm pretty sure I remember reading a statement from USAAlliance that they would like to extend 3% through 2022 but that it's not guaranteed
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& Regular credit cards like the one above Everyday Card(no Fee) & Preferred(95 annual fee)
This card tho is a perfect way to build history and you can carry a balance to the next month but- I recommend paying it off in full or keep a low utilization
Note when when you open your first Amex card it results in a hard pull on your credit : but any cards your look to open further will be a soft pull no effect to your credit.
So this card is a 10/10 first Amex card to have & to build that relationship with Amex
P.S. I recommend doing a pre-approval before applying &
Open Credit Karma - it's a good ball park range indicator
You get 6% cash back at grocery stores also just by purchasing GCs with preferred?
usalliance is a credit card like all the other credit cards. it's not some scam to get you to use your card and then they pull the rug out from underneath you. but i get it, lots of skepticism and doubt and i guess it is hard to believe unless your first name is wells or chase or citi or america or capital. and maybe that's a good thing, maybe if a they had a million cardholder perhaps the rate would change. in september or october i should know if the rate goes to 4%, stays at 3% or lowers to 2% and then i can decide what to do from there. in the meantime, i get 3% everywhere everyday all day long on everything unlimited.
but there are no guarantees. you don't get a contract with any credit card. fed raised the rate today, if amex wants to send you an email and say never mind on this 6% what are you going to do? i know right now it feels like a guarantee, but it isn't. i believe the credit union has board rules that says they have to approve the rate every year so it's different than a scamming bank.
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