What are your top five credit cards and why?

[redpat]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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@redpat wrote:

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@Aim_High wrote:...  Which has absolutely nothing to do with an "investment portfolio."  🙄 (where did that even come from??? I've never called my cards an investment portfolio.)

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@Aim_High 

Re: Investment portfolio analogy,

Congrats on finding such success with your CITI relationship.    

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Lol, it's not a relationship it's all about AA miles/LP and that could change in a New York minute.  It was the 2023 Exec changes that made me switch to AA from UR.

CSR is waiting in the wings if needed.

[longtimelurker]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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This ^ @ptatohed, for network diversity.  But my main point wasn't the payment network diversity.  It was the lender diversity with AMEX being both the issuing bank and payment network in this particular case.   If a bank gave me 10% rewards on everything I purchased, I still wouldn't give them 100% of my card spend.  Why?  My credit report and history are much more important than whatever card rewards I receive.  Credit history can only be build slowly over time.  If a lender, for whatever reason, decides to take adverse action on my accounts, I've just allowed a single financial institution to completely trash my credit file.  That is way too much power and control in my opinion. Diversifying, for me, means having at least three separate lenders who would then have no more than 1/3 control over changes on my credit file. But I also believe more is better, at least to a certain extent.  That's why I value having (and maintaining, even at the potential loss of some rewards) a relationship with multiple major lenders.  My cards are not just a way to make rewards money; they are tool in my overall financial toolbox, with a far greater value than simply the rewards they offer. 

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  If I had a 10% card, nearly all my spend would go on it, while I would do keep-alive spend on say 2 others.   The issuer really can't trash your file (via accurate reporting anyway), at worst they could close the card, perhaps causing a temporary util bump to decrease the score.

But as to value: I think this partially depends where you are in life and what you see as future needs. So long as my score didn't decrease so that all cards were closed, I don't really care about score as I don't see that I will ever be getting another loan, even if I lived another, oh, year.

With enough money invested using the bucket system ("illegal", "highly illegal", "no-one must ever find out")  the rewards ARE the reason for the credit cards!

As a thought experiment, raise the 10% to 50% to 100% to 110%, when do you decide "I really should use this card more or less exclusively!"

[NoHardLimits]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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But as to value: I think this partially depends where you are in life and what you see as future needs. So long as my score didn't decrease so that all cards were closed, I don't really care about score as I don't see that I will ever be getting another loan, even if I lived another, oh, year.

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While I also don't anticipate ever having to apply for another installment loan, credit scores can significantly impact insurance premiums.  For a Florida resident, homeowner and auto insurance rates can vary widely as well as increase dramatically from year to year.  An exceptionally high credit rating will help to hold down those premiums.

[Rockysocks]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Aim_High wrote:

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This ^ @ptatohed, for network diversity.  But my main point wasn't the payment network diversity.  It was the lender diversity with AMEX being both the issuing bank and payment network in this particular case.   If a bank gave me 10% rewards on everything I purchased, I still wouldn't give them 100% of my card spend.  Why?  My credit report and history are much more important than whatever card rewards I receive.  Credit history can only be build slowly over time.  If a lender, for whatever reason, decides to take adverse action on my accounts, I've just allowed a single financial institution to completely trash my credit file.  That is way too much power and control in my opinion. Diversifying, for me, means having at least three separate lenders who would then have no more than 1/3 control over changes on my credit file. But I also believe more is better, at least to a certain extent.  That's why I value having (and maintaining, even at the potential loss of some rewards) a relationship with multiple major lenders.  My cards are not just a way to make rewards money; they are tool in my overall financial toolbox, with a far greater value than simply the rewards they offer. 

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  "I don't really care about score as I don't see that I will ever be getting another loan, even if I lived another, oh, year."

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You better be lurking here for more than just another year. Good credit advice is hard to find online, but I've consistently found it on these forums from folks such as you.

But I digress.

To keep things on topic, my top 5 cards in my wallet are:

1) US Bank Cash+ Siggy: 5% Utilities & Internet

2) Abound CU Platinum: 5% Gas

3) Citi Custom Cash World Elite: 5% Restaurants

4) AAA Daily Advantage Siggy: 5% Groceries

5) AOD discontinued Siggy: 3% everything else @ fixed 8.99%

[MickeyGMoney]

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@Xanthos472 wrote:

   1. BoA Premium for 2.62 everywhere uncapped.

   2. Citi DoubleCash for the overflow from BoA Premium.

   3. USB Cash+ set to Utilities and Sporting Goods for 5%. Local mom and pop hardware store codes as sporting goods.

   4. Discover for 5% rotating.

   5. Huntington Voice for 3% category 

   Didn't include business or I would have added Chase Ink Cash for office supply.

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I'm getting the BoA Premium. What do you mean by overflow? If the BoA is uncapped, when do you need to use the Citi DoubleCash?

[Yawgoog]

1.  Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards, with Preferred Rewards - 5.25% online shopping, including nearly all my drugstore purchases

2.  Citi Custom Cash - 5% groceries

3.  US Bank Cash+ - 5% fast food and phone/internet services

4.  Discover It and Chase Freedom (original) - 5% on rotating categories

5.  Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards, with Preferred Rewards - 2.62% everything else

I churn other cards twice a year for the sign-up bonuses and use them to pre-pay insurance and utilities.  The US Bank Cash+ can also be used for utilities.

[ptatohed]

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@Yawgoog wrote:

1.  Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards, with Preferred Rewards - 5.25% online shopping, including nearly all my drugstore purchases

2.  Citi Custom Cash - 5% groceries

3.  US Bank Cash+ - 5% fast food and phone/internet services

4.  Discover It and Chase Freedom (original) - 5% on rotating categories

5.  Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards, with Preferred Rewards - 2.6% everything else

I churn other cards twice a year for the sign-up bonuses and use them to pre-pay insurance and utilities.  The US Bank Cash+ can also be used for utilities.

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^

That's a darn nice setup.  

[longtimelurker]

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@NoHardLimits wrote:

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anticipate ever having to apply for another installment loan, credit scores can significantly impact insurance premiums.  For a Florida resident, homeowner and auto insurance rates can vary widely as well as increase dramatically from year to year.  An exceptionally high credit rating will help to hold down those premiums.

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Good point.  I am in MA,  one of the states which doesn't allow credit score based insurance for auto or homeowners. 

( And I have to live in the state until I die or my money runs out, thanks to the wonders of UK IHT)

[xenon3030]

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@ptatohed wrote:

If I could get 10% cash back on everything, I think I could easily become a 1 card guy.  lol    

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It is less likely that any credit card company would issue such a card in the world anytime soon . 

In the US, the credit card companies afford to provide chasback/reward programs (~2-5%) and SUB (~10%, one-time to attract new customers), because of their high processing fee (2-3%). They already collected such money from customers. They simply create a large pool of money (adding also AF/interest from balances to the equation), and afterward, pay back to the customers as rewards.

For comparison, this processing fee is only ~0.3% in the other countries (Canada, UK, etc). Since the credit card companies in the other countries cannot create such a large pool, there are limited reward/SUB programs outisde the US.

As a comparison, Amex Platinum in Switzerland has AF of 900 CHF ($1000!!!). Since there is a limited transaction fee, the AF is elevated to be able to provide several benefits like lounge access.

[Rdbeetle]

Well, I only have three cards. For me, the order is:

1. AMEX BCP

2. USB Cash+

3. SFFCU MC