Which credit card is best?
- Thread starter cyfan964
- Start date
think I just heard the average Iowa family as ~ $7K on credit cards at any given time ... which is better than the national average of ~ $10K.
so I guess mine is better than average - it will be down to zero after my tax refund ... for a couple weeks anyway.:sad:
I have a target visa because we shop there a lot, a discover (for everything) and a delta skymiles amex for traveling outside the US. The amex has a yearly fee, but I get so many bonus miles that it is worth it to me. Every 2-3 years I can get a free airline ticket, which saves me more than the yearly fee.
I have not paid a dime in interest in 10 years on a CC. You just have to decide if you do not have the money to pay it off, do not charge it.
To accumulate frequent flyer miles, nothing beats the Alaska Airlines Visa; a comparison between the Capital One card and the Alaska Airlines Card isn't even close since it takes substantially fewer dollars charged to earn free flights with the Alaska Airlines Card.
Get 3% Bonus Cash Back I use this on everything I can and have been pretty pleased with the cash back.
Just a small FYI. Everyone talks about the cash back. Does everyone know that the retailer you made your purchase from pays the cash back on top of regular fees?
As a small business owner, I pay 1.89% plus .25 per transaction fee and the 1% to whatever % for cash back. Small markup items can actually cost the retailer to sell.
As a small business owner, I pay 1.89% plus .25 per transaction fee and the 1% to whatever % for cash back. Small markup items can actually cost the retailer to sell.
I have a Discover that I use for almost everything. It's not a bad idea to have a credit/debit card as back up. My ATM card is also a Visa. Virtually every place I go accepts Discover. However in the off chance you get stuck in Ecuador and they don't accept Discover to get you home, the Visa check card comes in handy. Long story, but it happened to me.
As you said, if you pay your bill every month, rate doesn't really matter, take the cash back.
As you said, if you pay your bill every month, rate doesn't really matter, take the cash back.
- Jun 20, 2006
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Instead of paying it monthly... I would recommend paying it off weekly or bi-weekly... whatever your frequency is for your payday.
I have a Chase BP card that I use for business purchases and travel, I pay it off 2-3 times a month.
-keep
I have a Chase BP card that I use for business purchases and travel, I pay it off 2-3 times a month.
-keep
If you want to fully pay your monthly balance immediately, go with the ones that offer what you want to have (air miles, cash back, etc).
Target redcard gives 10% off for one day shopping everytime you get 1000 points (meaning you've spent $1,000). Amex gives 5% cash back for dining, although some places don't accept Amex. Discover also offers good cash back but some places (like Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example) don't accept Discover. Master and Visa give about 2% cash back and they are more widely acceptable.
There was an article couple of weeks ago regarding the "premium perks" like Mileage, etc - that the credit card companies will charge annual fee for those perks.
Target redcard gives 10% off for one day shopping everytime you get 1000 points (meaning you've spent $1,000). Amex gives 5% cash back for dining, although some places don't accept Amex. Discover also offers good cash back but some places (like Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example) don't accept Discover. Master and Visa give about 2% cash back and they are more widely acceptable.
There was an article couple of weeks ago regarding the "premium perks" like Mileage, etc - that the credit card companies will charge annual fee for those perks.
Personally while I understand your issue I only really care about the benefits I get. To me that's an issue for the businesses to take up with the CC companies. Besides, I think it's only fair I get back some of the money that I'm over-spending on some items anyways. Some of the markups on things we buy are rediculous. I can't remember the last time I ever bought something from Best Buy but something as simple as a cable may cost them $8 and they mark it up to around $40 because they make the most profit on the assesories you have to by and have little mark up on big items.
I hate the thinking of all these "trickle down" effect thinking that business minds try to scare consumers with because as a consumer we all have the final say in a sense which is we just won't spend money on something if the prices get too inflated because they are pasing on the costs in their prices.
