What Credit Cards do you use/suggest?

[CFIscare]

I've always used debit cards, but I'm looking to get a credit card. Which ones do you use or suggest?

 

[typhoonpilot]

Delta Sky Miles American Express Gold card.

Chase Visa Marriott Rewards card.

But then, I have no idea of your travel and spending habits. Those two work pretty well for me. The free checked bag on DAL with the Amex certainly saved some money for me in the past.

The Chase card has no international transaction fees which is very good when doing a lot of overseas spending.





TP

 

[web265]

I've always used debit cards, but I'm looking to get a credit card. Which ones do you use or suggest?

The company's/boss'?

 

[mikecweb]

Delta Sky Miles American Express Gold card.

Chase Visa Marriott Rewards card.

But then, I have no idea of your travel and spending habits. Those two work pretty well for me. The free checked bag on DAL with the Amex certainly saved some money for me in the past.

The Chase card has no international transaction fees which is very good when doing a lot of overseas spending.
TP

If you're going to get a Delta card, get the platinum that way you get a ticket.

To the OP get something with a reward that lines up with what you would use. If nothing then just get a cash back card.
Beyond that, pay it off every month and it's just as good as a debit card.

 

[typhoonpilot]

Fee on the Platinum card is higher and I think it's just a companion ticket that is free.

The other nice thing about the Amex is their car rental insurance. You can sign up for a deal that tacks $25 onto a rental, but gives you coverage for the duration of the rental versus the daily rate charged by the rental car company.

Amex Car Coverage


TP

 

[mikecweb]

Fee on the Platinum card is higher and I think it's just a companion ticket that is free.

The other nice thing about the Amex is their car rental insurance. You can sign up for a deal that tacks $25 onto a rental, but gives you coverage for the duration of the rental versus the daily rate charged by the rental car company.

Amex Car Coverage


TP

Yup and if you can take advantage of that it more than pays for itself.

 

[skypilot6]

The Marriott Chase Visa is awesome for Marriott rewards. $85 Annual fee with it but that comes with a free night as well so it pays for itself as long as your use it. Pretty much the best rewards card for hotels.

Chase Freedom or Discover it card for cash back. Both 15mo no interest Chase offers $200 back and Discover offers $100 after $500 in qualifying purchases other than that its about the same card. And the Discover Card is just like the commercials you call and a real person answers, no automated menu, no holding, one ring and a real person, its a nice touch!

 

[JSA736]

Any American Express you get is awesome:

1. No foreign transaction fees.
2. The Delta AMEX upon request can be issued to you with a chip, makes buying stuff in Europe and abroad way easier.
3. They usually have little offers on the AMEX page for various stores/shops, Ex. Buy $10 worth of gas at XYZ gas station get $5 statement credit!
   
4. rental car/travel/luggage/extended warranty insurance.
5. Lost your Passport? They can set up an appointment to get that fixed

Jeez I should either get a job with them or stop spending my dang money altogether lol...

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/card-benefits/

That web site should help.

P.S. I forgot to mention you get a free Shoprunner account through amex too.

 

[CaptBill]

I use Chase's Amazon Visa Card. Everytime I log on to Amazon to buy something I always have rewards cash available to use. You can buy anything on Amazon so it works great for me. I don't know the interest rate but I pay it off every month so it really doesn't matter much. If you're going to carry a balance this might not be the lowest interest rate out there. As others have said, choose a card based on your needs and how you intend to use it.

I refuse to have a card that charges you an annual fee.

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

The Samuel L. Jackson card.

Capital One MasterCard QucikSilver.

No annual fees - No foreign transaction fees

1.5% cashback on EVERYTHING - no categories, no rotating schedules. 1.5% all the time.

Best deal out there!

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

I'm using the Chase Marriott Visa. I like it. Handy in foreign countries.

 

[NickH]

Amex Platinum is good, but the companion ticket is a perk I'll never use. It requires that you buy a full fare ticket, so the discount over two cut-rate fares is small. The lounge access is, for me, the most valuable perk. The $200 airline fee rebate (which can be used for buying gift cards which can then be used for ticket purcahse), combined with the $100 global entry fee rebate means it's not that high of a Fee. Probably my most used card. Looking for a new card I'd consider the AAdvvantage World MasterCard instead for the 100K mile bonus.

I also have a Citi Hilton Reserve Visa. Comes with two fee weekend nights at any Hilton Property, and another night every year. Easily worth the $95 annual fee if used at a high dollar property.

Always use a credit card rather than debit, for everything.

 

[middies10]

Any American Express you get is awesome:

1. No foreign transaction fees.
2. The Delta AMEX upon request can be issued to you with a chip, makes buying stuff in Europe and abroad way easier.
3. They usually have little offers on the AMEX page for various stores/shops, Ex. Buy $10 worth of gas at XYZ gas station get $5 statement credit!
   
4. rental car/travel/luggage/extended warranty insurance.
5. Lost your Passport? They can set up an appointment to get that fixed

Jeez I should either get a job with them or stop spending my dang money altogether lol...

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/card-benefits/

That web site should help.

P.S. I forgot to mention you get a free Shoprunner account through amex too.

Hmm why do I get foreign transactions fees on my Delta gold Amex? I'd love to be feeless lol

 

[JSA736]

Hmm why do I get foreign transactions fees on my Delta gold Amex? I'd love to be feeless lol

Hopefully this link works!

https://www304.americanexpress.com/...ld-credit-card/sjterms/36182-9-0#cardbenefits

Press control+f and then type in Foreign, should take you right to where it states...

"No Foreign Transaction Fee American Express will not charge any foreign transaction fee on the purchases you make outside of the United States with your Card. However, there may be circumstances where ATMs or merchants charge a fee on foreign transactions."

 

[JOEFRIDAY2]

I like the Discover card because it has no fees and pretty much has all of the benefits of the Amex. It will rebate you back 1% of everything you spend for the year once you spend $3000. Like any credit card, just make sure you pay the thing off every month and do not carry a balance. You can also reach a Discover rep 24/7 and their call centers are in the US.

I also have the Amex just because I have had the darn thing for 20+ years and I'm stupid enough to keep paying them an annual fee. I should get rid of it. I don't use it now except for client expenses that I'm going to get reimbursed for.

One other thing, if you have a paypal debit card, you can use it as a credit card and get 1.5% or 1% back. This works even if you don't have money in your paypal account. Paypal will just deduct it from your bank checking account. So instead of using my bank debit card and getting nothing I use the paypal debit card and get 1.5% back. If you are going to spend the money anyway (on gas, electric bill, insurance, groceries, ets), then you might as well take advantage of the rebate.

Joe

 

[Mike Massimini]

Agreed; never use debit cards. Indeed, turn them down and just get an ATM card from your bank. You've no dispute capability on your purchases. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/are-debit-cards-better-than-credit-cards.html


Capitol One ... no foreign transaction fees ... points can be traded for airline tickets.
Piedmont Advantage CU ... also no FTF ... backs up the Capitol One.
Costco Amex ... convenient for Costco ... some cash back.

I spend most of my time overseas, so no FTF is important. Capitol One has some reward points; the card types differ considerably. I can usually get a couple of free airline tickets per year.

I have a checking account at Chase. Their visa also has no FTF's. There's an annual fee, though, that is more than cancelled out by the cash back, at least at my spending level. I don't bother with it since it's basically a wash with the Capitol One.

 

[dasleben]

I currently use a Capital One Venture card, which I like. When I need to rent a car or really need to fly somewhere (and don't want to risk jumpseating), I always have points available to cover the car or buy a ticket without paying anything out of pocket. There's also no foreign transaction fee, which is huge in my line of work.

 

[killbilly]

Agreed; never use debit cards. Indeed, turn them down and just get an ATM card from your bank. You've no dispute capability on your purchases. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/are-debit-cards-better-than-credit-cards.html

This has not been my experience with my Credit Union, who issued me a Visa debit card. I've had two occasions of fraudulent transactions and in both cases they said, "no problem" and handled it. Maybe it's just a service they offer me with no obligation?

 

[drunkenbeagle]

This has not been my experience with my Credit Union, who issued me a Visa debit card. I've had two occasions of fraudulent transactions and in both cases they said, "no problem" and handled it. Maybe it's just a service they offer me with no obligation?

Under Federal Law in the US, you have a maximum liability of $50 on a fraudulent credit card charge, or $500 on a fraudulent debit card charge. If you don't notice the fraudulent debit card charge within 60 days, you are legally on the hook for all of it. Also, if a crook manages to clean out your checking account - even if you notified the bank before it happened, the funds probably won't be credited back to you until the bank completes an investigation, which could be a few months. This happened to me, notified bank of fraudulent charges, they continued to let account be emptied for a few weeks, took 2 months to credit funds back to me.

Most banks seem to have more customer-friendly policies though, since the $50 isn't worth pissing off a customer enough that they go elsewhere (it costs more than $50 in marketing to get a new account opened).

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Regardless of the law, my experience with Wings Financial Credit Union (the former NWA credit union) has been similar to @killbilly's with his credit union. I had someone buy two or three thousand dollars worth of stuff in China using my card, and the credit union had the money back in my account within hours of me filling out the paperwork. Non-event.

That said, I still use a credit card rather than a debit card for everything, because it gives me cash back.