What credit card do people like

SovDog

SovDog

Steelhead
A good friend once said "if your credit card isn't getting you free stuff your missing out".

I'm going to be in the market for a new one soon and was wondering what people liked. For our family expenses we use an REI credit card which gets us free camping gear and quality seasonal outdoor clothing for us and the kids which is awesome. I've had airline ones in the past but I always hate all the rules and hoops you have to jump through to use the miles and with 4 kids we drive most places anyway. I've never had the ones that just give you cash back but I always worry I'd just pay a bill with it rather than use it for something fun. In that spirit this card would be for my personal and business use so in all honesty I'll be putting any points or rewards towards more fishing gear. Thinking about a BassPro card but if you have better ideas I'd love to hear 'em.

Thanks in advance!
 
I have a friend who is an absolute NERD about credit card rewards. He said Chase Sapphire and Chase Freedom are his top 2 he recommends. I went with the Sapphire and have more points than I know what to do with. Never really have to pay for a flight or hotel because my points seem to cover anything I'd need in that regard.

Not an expert beyond that, I am just happy with it so far.
 
Been looking myself.

Wells Fargo has a no fee, 2% back on every purchase.

Capital One has a no annual fee, 3% back on groceries, restaurants and 1
% back on everything else.
I’ve had their no fee 1-1/2% back on everything card for years. It expires this month and we’ll probably be going the Wells Fargo route.

I pay the sucker off each and every month regardless of who we’re with…
 
I hate 'em all. My daily driver is a Capital One. I chose at the time the one that gave me the highest cash back with no annual fee. It may not be that one anymore. I almost always apply the cash back to the credit balance. It's the same pocket I use for fun stuff, too. And never, ever carry a balance forward.
 
I have a few different rewards cards. Mostly I use Chase cards. I have the Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, and Sapphire Preferred ($100/year). When I had my business I had the Chase Ink as well. Everything goes on the Chase cards and the rewards transfer to the Sapphire card. I use the points for booking travel through the Chase portal as you get 25% more value (Sapphire card only) redeeming for travel like hotels, flights, rental cars. I'm sitting at over a million chase rewards points and haven't paid for a flight or hotel in years. The business card really helps rack up the points. Haven't used a debit card in over a decade.

And most importantly never carry a balance. The higher the rewards the higher the interest rate...
 
Paige said:
Alaska Airlines for miles!
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Luv our Alaska Airlines card. I also like that it uses Bank of America. Based on a number of past experiences, BofA has great monitoring to ensure proper charging. BofA has caught a number of 'mis-uses' by unauthorized 'people'. Customer Service has been great, too. IMHO, BofA is the best in these regards...
 
It depends on what you want "free".
If it's cash, it's not hard to check bankrate or nerdwallet for the best cash-back cards.
If it's international travel, for the past few years it's been a no-brainer to enter the Chase Ultimate rewards world. The travel insurance and rental car insurance are better than any. Plus their partners are a deep list of the best. And the Chase concierge is outstanding, (they handled everything for us when BA screwed up with one phone call, and to drive the point home, we hadn't purchased the tickets through them. We were dumped in Rome hours after the train to Florence and I couldn't reach Citi (the ticket charge) so I called Chase. They booked a hotel and had a car for us to take there in 20 minutes.
If it's stateside travel, and like most rational people you despise Southwest, Alaska's card has excellent transfer partners and you won't pay for bags.
 
I use the Fidelity credit card. Its 2% cash back on everything, the kicker is that it has to be direct deposited into an account at Fidelity. This is fine for me since thats where all my investments are, but I also like that it goes into a money market fund in one of my accounts where it earns a pretty good rate of return and I can take it out and use it for whatever. Personally I like this better than getting 2% off the bill, I look at it as enforced savings.
 
cascadian said:
And at a much higher point value, if you book through the portal.
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I don't have an Alaska card so don't really have the knowledge to compare. I just know Chase has a reputation for having the best points system.
 
Evan B said:
I don't have an Alaska card so don't really have the knowledge to compare. I just know Chase has a reputation for having the best points system.
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Alaska points are generally 1 point. Your Chase card, through the UR portal, offers 1.5 with the Reserve. That's what I was referring to. (y)
 
Alaska Airlines card is nice for those traveling out of SeaTac. Companion airlines list is good. Free companion fare and no luggage fees. TSA precheck renewal benefit. No overseas fees.

Chase Sapphire Preferred is great for travel. Points can be redeemed for cash too. No overseas fees.

Citibank Double Cash is 2% cash back on everything. A good autobilling choice.

Capital One Savor is good for restaurants, gasoline, entertainment cash back 3%.

As others have said, never carry a balance on any card and carefully watch for rewards changes and annual fee increases.
 
Greg Armstrong said:
I pay the sucker off each and every month regardless of who we’re with…
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^^^^
This is the best advice you can get. We have three rewards cards that we pay off each month. One is best for groceries / gas / streaming, a second for everything else. The third one is the Amazon Visa.

Everything in the household goes through the first two cards. We are not into flying or fancy hotels, just camping in our trailer, so the rewards are enough to pay a large part of two trips each year.
 
Delta American Express Platinum
It's an expensive card, somewhere close to $600 annually, but if you're good at taking advantage of the benefits it offers the fee is reasonable.
Plus you get a companion fare on Delta domestic flights for free (unlike the Alaska Visa), including first class (not available on Alaska). We used to fly with Alaska, and still accumulate miles on their Visa, but only to be able to book with the other airlines in their One World Alliance.
 
Another Chase Sapphire fan here. We moved away from Alaska Airlines. Very frustrating trying to redeem points in a way that you want them. In the last couple of years our family of three have been to Europe three times and Japan once, all on points, and nearly all of it in business class or economy plus. And you get access to the lounges.
 
Evan B said:
Best points

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I want one now!

I currently use the Alaska rewards card. It works really well for me now, because Alaska flies direct (at great prices) from Seatac to almost every place I want to go, whether I'm fishing or visiting my family, who are spread out across the country. It's been good to me, but I would rue the day if I ever failed to pay the full balance off. Despite my very good credit rating, the interest rate is something like 27%???

I've considered switching to another card to maximize my net rewards (my sister who travels a lot loves her Chase Sapphire card), but the Alaska card has kept me at least happy enough not to get too serious about a switch.

No matter what you decide, I think @ffb has it right: the bigger the benefits, the bigger the interest rate (and annual fee). As long as you're confident you'll be paying the full balance every month, it's kind of hard to go too wrong.
 
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