@IcyCool7227 wrote:What is that link please? I'd love to get into the PCMCU one for the 5% catch all card up to $1k spend a month.
So would I! But no one said anything about pcm CU. 
If you are asking about Vantage West.............
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Vantage-West-Credit-Union/m-p/6755846#M1867015
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@300FICOScore wrote:Not selectable since it includes all mobile wallet transactions which in my opinion makes it better:
US Bank Kroger Mastercard
Only the first $3k per year of tap works.
@Dilbert934 wrote:
@300FICOScore wrote:Not selectable since it includes all mobile wallet transactions which in my opinion makes it better:
US Bank Kroger Mastercard
Only the first $3k per year of tap works.
Right, but you can have multiple Kroger sister cards. It's not tap (physical card), it's mobile wallet (5% CB, first $3k/yr).
@ptatohed wrote:I was giving it some thought and it hit me that being able to select your own 5% cat is pretty handy. I still enjoy my rotators but being able to know which cats you can earn 5% CB in all year long, without taking it quarter by quarter, is pretty sweet.
I know I am missing some, can you guys help me list more 5% CB cards with a fixed list of categories to choose from (fixed list meaning it is the same list all year (so no Langely or Safe in this case)). Bank or Credit Union. Here is my short list:
citi Custom Cash. Not selectable as in you check a box but selectable by your spending habits. Great card.
BoA Customized Cash Rewards (but only with Platinum Honors).
USB Cash+ and twins. Two selectable categories!
Vantage West (Possible hoop jumping and/or possible geo restrictions).
Help add to the list please. Thanks!
I know you said no Langley, and I see it on your wish list, I just want to add how valuable a card this is to add to your line-up. The rotating categories change every month, and each month they allow 5% on $2000 (max $100 CB) spend (not 5% on $1500 spend over 3-months like other cards) and the category is GAS and Dining & Groceries at times. They also have Cashback+ now where you can purchase a GC thru their sponsored retailers and the CB can be 15% or more. I went to one of my fave eating places the other day, checked Langley and it was on there for 9%. Bought a GC, had it on my account, showed it to the waitress when I was paying, done, painless. A great card to have.
The combo of US Bank AR for in-store (digital wallet, 4.5% when redeeming for travel) and BOA CCR for online shopping (Plat honor, 5.25%) should cover the majority of the needs in any household. I barely use CFF and Discover (unless having PP in the categories).
AR has an effective AF of $75 while it comes with a large SUB ($750). So, effectively its SUB covers 10 years of its excellent service. It has also no cap and it is a good card for Costco.
To address the cap of BOA CCR, I got 3x of this card . I may get the 4th one sometime soon for a better coverage.
Fico8: EX~EQ~TU~810 (12 month goal~840).
@elboullee wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:I was giving it some thought and it hit me that being able to select your own 5% cat is pretty handy. I still enjoy my rotators but being able to know which cats you can earn 5% CB in all year long, without taking it quarter by quarter, is pretty sweet.
citi Custom Cash. Not selectable as in you check a box but selectable by your spending habits. Great card.
BoA Customized Cash Rewards (but only with Platinum Honors).
USB Cash+ and twins. Two selectable categories!
Vantage West (Possible hoop jumping and/or possible geo restrictions).
Don't all of those just have a relatively few selectable categories from which to choose?
For example, neither gas or groceries are 5% categories for the USB Cash+ and utilities aren't a category for the Custom Cash.
The idea of having and trying to manage 20+ cards just to get an extra 2% or so on a few thousand in spend a year sounds like an absolute nightmare to me.
With just two cards, the CFF and Discover IT for example, you end up getting 5% [on $1.5K spend per quarter on each card] for six months of the year on all of the major categories [or 5% on up to $3K in spend when the cards duplicate their categories]. And with the CFF you get 7% for three months on resturants and drugstores. I think 7% for three months on resturants would, for most people, more than make up for losing the 2% for the other six months on all of those other cards.
YMMV
For me, I was thinking the opposite. I was thinking getting 5% cards with selectable categories could simplify things! No rotating categories for those cards. You could take the card, set up to auto-pay your utilities/phone/cable/streaming, whatever it might be and that card doesn't even need to be in your wallet. You can pick restaurants as your cat and that frees up the rotators to go for something else that quarter (and/or increase your cap on restaurants). I have no problem juggling cards. No nightmare here. Only enjoyment.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:Right, but you can have multiple Kroger sister cards. It's not tap (physical card), it's mobile wallet (5% CB, first 3kk/yr).
There's probably a sweet spot for these multiple cards, but varies per person. Basically, if you spend a lot on mobile pay, the uncapped (but with AF) Altitude Reserve makes more sense. I put $50+K on it in 2023, probably going to be more in 2024, and that's a lot of 3K cards to juggle (is the current one I'm using near the 3K cap, in which case I might have to switch for this transaction and remember to come back with a smaller one). If you spend a lot less, then it might make sense, but of course the corresponding 'win' is much less
I have no doubt the AR is a great card for you ltl, and I am glad it is. For me, I have no interest in travel redemption so it would be a 3% card at best (not 4.5%). And I have no desire to pay a $75 AF. And.... I have no interest in paying at the POS with my phone (but, if I were to, it would have to be for 5%, lol).