/biz/ - Business & Finance

[Anonymous No.53687734]

What are the best credit cards for farming reward points? I hear a lot about AMEX gold/platinum, just trying to optimize my spending.

I'm talking about paying for rent, groceries, dinner, etc. with certain credit cards for reward points to get cash back, travel credits, etc. What do you recommend?

[Anonymous No.53687755]

>>53687734
AMEX has minimum income requirements on top of needing a great score so if you qualify, yes they are simply the best

[Anonymous No.53687762]

Just get cash back. Don't get anything else

[Anonymous No.53687800]

Tbh I think the best low effort card is the PayPal MasterCard. I have it

2% back everywhere
3% back everywhere PayPal can be used as payment (it's more than i thought)

Another good card is Citi custom cash 5% back in 1 category

Gemini MasterCard. At the moment 10% cash back for 1 yr on gas

Walmart capital one. 5% off at Walmart

Amex overrated. There's also credit card churning

[Anonymous No.53687814]

>>53687800
My nigga. Thanks

[Anonymous No.53687831]

>>53687755
AMEX also still has limited coverage for some reason. I have no idea why.

[Anonymous No.53688870]

>>53687734
The US Bank Cash+ is a great card for paying utilities and whatnot. 5% cashback in two categories of your choice, so select utilities and whatever other category you'd like. I myself have it on "Home Utilities" and "TV/Internet/Streaming." Those fuckers at Spectrum already charge too much for their internet, 5% cashback is better than nothing. Only caveat is that there is a limit to the 5% cashback per quarter and you have to accumulate at least 25 dollars to cash out.

[Anonymous No.53688884]

>>53688870
This fuckers keep denying me>

>53687814
Np. There are many good cards out there you just have to look for them. There's more than the ones I listed.

[Anonymous No.53688895]

I have 750 credit or so and have been trying to build it since a year ago. I have 3 CC and pay on time for each one. Any other advice? Should I care about credit maxing or opening more?

[Anonymous No.53689672]

I use Amex gold for most of my in person purchases like groceries, restaurants, etc. I also have the Amazon Prime Visa for stuff I order on Amazon. Get about $30 back every month on Amazon, so it pays for my Prime membership and then some.

[Anonymous No.53690245]

I have Amex gold.

Pros
>60k point sign up bonus
>4x points on restaurants and grocery stores
>$10 on Uber every month or Uber eats if you are a super glutton
>some bonus offers on their apps are half decent, me and wife went to chevys and they had spend $40 get $10 off
>I feel cool using it and people actually look at it

Cons
>$250 yearly fee
>unless you really jump through hoops points are anywhere from .7-1.2 Cents per points

That 60k bonus offer is closer to $500

[Anonymous No.53690304]

>>53687831
I think it has to do with high merchant fees.

[Anonymous No.53691175]

>>53687755
Disagree I find Amex stuff to be a waste UNLESS you travel frequently. If you travel, then yes it's the best.

I personally use the Citi double cash card which equates to 2% back on everything. Dollar for dollar it's the best.

[Anonymous No.53691231]

>>53687734
Prime card strictly for Amazon. 5% back on everything there and 5% back on their supermarkets/whole foods.

[Anonymous No.53691250]

>>53687734
I use Amex Platinum Cashback in the UK - 1% cashback on everything.

[Anonymous No.53693211]

>>53691250
0.75% and £25 fee. No thanks

[Anonymous No.53693228]

>>53687734
What is a Credit Card?
First, think of a credit card as defined not by its form but by its purpose: Credit cards provide you instant mini-loans to pay for goods and services. For that convenience, you typically pay interest on the amount you borrow and, often, miscellaneous fees.

That sounds straightforward, but lenders have developed seemingly infinite variations. For example, you can use general-purpose cards throughout a network of businesses that accept them but you can generally only use private-label (or co-branded) cards at the businesses that issue them; “secured” cards are designed to build (or rebuild) credit; and zero-interest balance transfer cards can save you money—if you read (and abide by) the fine print. 1

The aim is to match features to your goals.

Any credit card can help you build good credit if you consistently use only a small portion of your available credit and make on-time payments.2 But some cards are designed to help you build credit.
Secured credit cards are secured by cash: You make a security deposit to the bank ($200 is usually the minimum) and get a credit card with a limit equal to that deposit. You then use the card and make payments toward your balance to show that you are a responsible borrower.

[Anonymous No.53693247]

I need a 0pct intro Apr to shift all of my debt to NOW

[Anonymous No.53693278]

>>53693211
For the UK that's good, except maybe Chase, but that's one year only.

[Anonymous No.53693311]

>>53690245
Amex gold is the shit, I have both gold and platinum and I prefer the gold card. It just looks cooler. And most of my extra spending is on food which iirc you get 5x points on dining with the gold.

[Anonymous No.53693393]

>>53691231
>>53689672

Yeah, the Amazon prime credit card's 5% cash back is great if you make a lot of purchases through Amazon and Wholefoods. I got over $1,307 in cash back alone last year from using the card.

I also got the Citi Double Cash for all other purchases and a Chase Freedom Card that I got as my first credit card, though I don't really use that one anymore.

They're the only work horse credit cards I need at this point, though I might look into a travel card this year.

[Anonymous No.53693433]

>>53693393
Prime and Sapphire are my go tos right now. I have other cards that get 5% back at specific places (groceries, BJ's wholesale, etc) but I only use them for those perks.
The grocery cards are nice cause they have your barcode to get all the discounts and fuel points on the back already so you can ditch that old lady plastic one.

[Anonymous No.53693607]

>>53687734
The big brain move is applying for new credit cards and farming the intro bonuses. I've made almost $10k off 40+ credit cards and most of them are still active. My total credit limit is over $310k.

[Anonymous No.53693613]

>>53687734
>I'm talking about paying for rent

using credit card for rent is a sign that you fucked up badly. CC charges for rent have like 5-8% charge tacked on, might be acceptable to meet an introduction offer but that 5% tip to the merchant adds up and there's no category for point multipliers.

[Anonymous No.53693716]

>>53693607
>The big brain move is applying for new credit cards

yea except issuers like amex and chase, among others, have a tendency to decrease credit limits in recessions. also i found out the hard way that chase generally doesn't allow you to have overall credit limit exceeding 50% of your income. capital one has also been reducing credit limit for reasons of "utilization has been significantly lower than the credit limit in previous months".

millenials that got cards in late 2020-2021 when banks were giving out massive introductory offers and automatic credit limit increases and managed to not go up their eyeballs in debt are in a good position for the next few years. zoomers are generally fucked, their credit scores and spending habits will flag as high-risk for risk models.

[Anonymous No.53693829]

>>53693716
This sounds about right. One of my newest cards is from SoFi and they capped my limit at like $6500. Meanwhile, I have one Amex card with a $70k limit since 2017.

[Anonymous No.53694051]

>>53693247
discover has 0% 15 months transfers on new cards

[Anonymous No.53694152]

>>53693829

so you're not worried about your credit limits being reduced? i don't think it reduces your credit score, but banks all around are reducing leverage exposure by slashing credit limits.

[Anonymous No.53694197]

>>53694152
None of my credit card limits have been reduced yet. I'm not worried about it anyway since I don't depend on them. They were simply tools for me to make easy money. And I only use one or two credit cards regularly. I don't ever plan on maxxing out all my cards and leaving the country or any weird shit like that.

[Anonymous No.53694211]

>>53687831
See >>53690304

[Anonymous No.53694229]

>>53690245
>>53693311
I used to have Amex Gold and Plat, and I used be a Diamond on Delta. Then the coof came and I got fired. Then I got a WFH job for 40% more. I hate traveling. Fuck Amex and fuck Delta.

[Anonymous No.53694237]

>>53687734
plutus

[Anonymous No.53694278]

>>53687831
Pic related. Amex prefers reduced coverage to protect their brand. Amex is for affluent professionals shopping at high margin retailers, not Dollar Store plebs.

[Anonymous No.53694302]

>>53694278
They also don't have any cards without an annual fee. Therefore amex can suck my dick. Not sneeded

[Anonymous No.53696012]

>>53687734
before i go any further you should get these 3 cards regardless
>citi custom cash (5% back on your most spend eligible category, so just use it as a dedicated spender for certain purchases)
>chase freedom flex (rotating quarterly 5% categories
>discover it (same as above, except it doubles your accumulated cashback after the first year so you're effectively getting 10% back until year 2)

>rent
Not really a good way to do this since a lot of places don't accept CC for rent or will apply a fee if you do, if they take debit you can try using a cashback debit card like the one discover offers

>groceries
redstone FCU card, 5% back on groceries and 3% on gas with no annual fee. the chase and discover cards i mentioned usually have this as a 5% category every year too. otherwise cap1 savorone/navy FCU more rewards are good at 3% back in groceries

>dinner
cap1 savorone/navy FCU. amex gold is slightly better but i recommend closing it before year 2 after you get the sign on bonus.

>etc.
paypal mastercard/citi double cash/sofi card are general 2% back cards. paypal is 3% back if you use paypal checkout and sofi is 3% back if you have direct deposit with them

>>53687755
>AMEX has minimum income requirements on top of needing a great score
you don't need a great score to get the gold or platinum. they will gladly approve you for a card with an absurdly high annual fee as long as your score is not literal nigger tier. the no AF cards are the ones they are particularly selective about

[Anonymous No.53696151]

>>53694302
>They also don't have any cards without an annual fee.
That's just not true, idiot

[Anonymous No.53696474]

>>53688884
Just take the hit and get their secured version. It can graduate to an unsecured Cash+ in a year. The cashback you'd get in the year is probably enough to offset the lost interest you'd otherwise get putting the money in a CD or high yield savings account. Otherwise good luck getting US Bank to approve you since they are rather picky.

[Anonymous No.53696621]

right now i have a virgin no-annual fee card that i just put groceries and bills on, just to build up my credit
personally getting Amex or any cash back cards with a minimum spending and a $50+ yearly fee seems like a waste of money for me, i don't want to be buying that much shit, let alone paying bullshit fees
>but muh airline points
i don't have to travel for work, and i don't particularly feel like dropping a bunch of money on vacations

why is everyone on here so keen to waste so much money?

[Anonymous No.53696674]

>>53696621
These cards from Amex have no annual fee.

[Anonymous No.53696707]

the "best card" is the one that's offering you a sign-up bonus for hitting a minimum spend. Beyond that, most of them are about the same, unless you can afford the annual fee on some of the higher end cards.

[Anonymous No.53696866]

>>53696674
none of these cards are available in australia
the american express essential card is 0 annual fee and gets you $100 back when you spend $1500 in 3 months. but since i can't pay my rent with a credit card, i'd be hard pressed to spend $500 a month on anything, especially with the amount of merchants that don't take amex. what if my alternator is fucked, i finally have a reason to whip out my card, but he only takes visa or mastercard
this honestly seems like a shill thread for amex, i'll stick with the virgin visa tbqh

[Anonymous No.53696939]

>>53696866
Well obviously this thread isn't about fucking Australia lol. Credit cards in America are essentially free money if used correctly.

[Anonymous No.53696996]

>>53687734
I had absolutely terrible credit so I started with a $500 Capital One card, as I paid it every time on time they kept raising my limit. Then they offered to upgrade it to the one with cash back.
I then applied for another Capital One card and got significantly more money from it.
Then I applied for an AMEX and got well over $20k in credit.
I use all three for everything I purchase and always pay on time. Right now I have over $1000 in rewards.

[Anonymous No.53697387]

r/churning

[Anonymous No.53697757]

>>53687734
Amex BCP for groceries/gas
Amazon prime for Amazon
Chase Sapphire for everything else
I think I have a target redcard too

[Anonymous No.53698490]

>>53687734
Wells Fargo Active Cash (2% cb). Thank me later.

[Anonymous No.53698526]

fidelity, 2% on everything. use the cashback to invest in account of your choosing

[Anonymous No.53698626]

>>53691175
Exactly. Platinum pays for itself if you travel a lot. It also has sweet streaming credits if that's a thing you pay for. There are also rotating offers for big discounts on certain stores and brands, which can be a big deal if you're a shopper. Amex also has the delta cards which can be nice if you don't have a centurion lounge in your local airport

[Anonymous No.53698688]

>>53696674
I mostly use an Amex Blue Cash Preferred:

6% at grocery stores (no Walmart)
3% at gas stations (gas, dairy & cigs)
1% else

Not a big spender, I get around $35-40 a month in statement credit.

[Anonymous No.53700224]

Great thread, thx everyone

[Anonymous No.53700300]

>>53688870
My utility uses a third party payment processor for credit card payments. Guess what their 'convenience' fee is. Fucking jews

[Anonymous No.53700343]

>>53693247
Forget it, you only qualify for those offers when you don't need them.
>T. Gets flooded with 0% offers at 33 but not at 23 when he was really struggling

[Anonymous No.53700675]

>>53687734
if you have 6 figs between your savings account and brokerage you should look into BoA cards. i get 5.25% on the category of my choice (online shopping) 3.25% on groceries, 3.5% on dining and travel, and 2.63% on everything else. one card is free the other is $95 but u also get one hundred dollars per year in airline reimbursement (seat upgrade, drinks, bags etc), covers global entry, and more.